Grey grease leaking from what appears to be where the input shaft on rack and pinion

Tiny
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  • 2008 SUBARU LEGACY
  • 2.5L
  • 4 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 131,000 MILES
I took my car to brakes plus to get it aligned when they said I needed a new rack and pinion. When they showed me the car, I saw that a portion of the boot on the driver side was wet. But there was no grey sludge at this time. However, when I got home and jacked up the car I noticed grey sludge coming from all over where the input shaft and valve body housing of the rack and pinion would be. Is this coming from the rack and pinion or do I have another issue as well?
Saturday, July 10th, 2021 AT 9:43 PM

18 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
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Hi,

If you have a power steering leak, it would be power steering fluid. Check the color of the fluid in the power steering pump reservoir. Is it gray? It shouldn't be.

I attached a pic below showing the cap of the power steering reservoir. Check it to confirm if it is full or not and the color of the fluid.

Also, if it is possible, take a pic of the leak you see and upload it for me to see.

Take care and let me know what you find.

Joe

See pic below.
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Saturday, July 10th, 2021 AT 10:22 PM
Tiny
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Yea, so my power steering fluid is red and I can’t take a pic of my car now but I can upload what it looks like which is the image you’ll see. The only thing is it has been splashing back and reaching the near rear of the car with this thicker liquid or grease. It looks as though it starts right next to where the input shaft for the rack and pinion is too.
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Saturday, July 10th, 2021 AT 10:59 PM
Tiny
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Hi,

That looks like grease from the CV joint. Take a look at this link:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-a-cv-joint-works

Check those and let me know what you find.

Joe
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Sunday, July 11th, 2021 AT 7:20 PM
Tiny
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You were right. I took it out earlier today and it was nearly torn completely!
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Sunday, July 11th, 2021 AT 7:39 PM
Tiny
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I had a feeling that was it. I'm glad they didn't replace the rack and pinion. Ugh!!! I have no idea why they thought grease would come out of the rack. That made no sense to me.

As far as the axle, I'm including the directions for removal and replacement. The directions will include torque specs. I realize you already have it out, but thought I would add them in the event you need to reference something. Also, here is a link that shows in general how it's done:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-cv-axle

Take care of yourself. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help and feel free to come back anytime in the future.

Joe

See pics below.

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Sunday, July 11th, 2021 AT 9:06 PM
Tiny
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Thank you! Luckily I have a mechanic for a neighbour and can be very handy myself, and after doing a little research figured it was the CV boot, and am in the process of replacing it. Unfortunately, I do believe brakes plus tampered with it in some way as this was not an issue when I arrived there, so I will be dealing with that. Thank you for the help though!
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Sunday, July 11th, 2021 AT 10:03 PM
Tiny
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Hi,

You are very welcome. Let me know if there is something I can do to help or if you have other questions.

Take care and feel free to come back anytime in the future.

Joe
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Monday, July 12th, 2021 AT 8:18 PM
Tiny
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Actually I do have a couple more questions. So I fixed the CV axle but now the car is making popping noises it never made before. I made sure to install it properly, along with a ball joint but it is now making popping noises even when driving straight. Any idea what this could be?
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2021 AT 5:08 PM
Tiny
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When you installed the axle, was it fully seated? Also, did you properly torque the axle nut?

Is there anything that seems to cause the noise such as bumps? Is it loud enough for you to record and upload for me to hear?

Let me know.

Joe
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2021 AT 8:08 PM
Tiny
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I do believe it was fully seated. We test pulled on it just enough to make sure it was all the way in, and heard it click in as well. I do believe we torqued the axle nut all the way (to 162 ft-lbs). It was the drivers side and it makes the noise when I turn left. It happens on bumps sometimes but more so when I turn slightly left.
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2021 AT 8:16 PM
Tiny
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If it seems more likely to happen when you hit bumps, something must be loose. Did you recheck the stabilizer link to make sure it's tight?

Joe
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2021 AT 9:32 PM
Tiny
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Yea. We never loosened the stabiliser link from what I remember, but I will check.
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Wednesday, July 14th, 2021 AT 4:19 AM
Tiny
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Check that. Also, if you have a floor jack, place it under the lower control arm and safely lift the vehicle. That way, you unload the ball joint and will be able to see if there is play.

Stay in touch and let me know what you find.

Joe
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Wednesday, July 14th, 2021 AT 7:08 PM
Tiny
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Well, I don’t know if it would be the ball joint as that was just newly replaced.
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Friday, July 16th, 2021 AT 4:38 PM
Tiny
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Hi,

I'm trying to cover all possibilities. Since this is a new noise after replacing the half shaft, we need to recheck everything that was removed, loosened, and so on that were touched for the axle repair.

Do me a favor. Take a look through this link and let me know if anything helps:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/popping-noise

Let me know.

Joe
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Friday, July 16th, 2021 AT 7:17 PM
Tiny
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Awesome. Thank you! And sorry for getting back late. I have not had a chance to look under the car until tomorrow. I am thinking the cv axle was not fully pushed in since the noise happens when driving straight. I also saw that rubber bushings could make popping noises when exiting or entering a driveway which is something that happens with my car.
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Friday, July 16th, 2021 AT 9:36 PM
Tiny
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Hi,

You are very welcome. If you can, let me know what you find or if there is anything I can do to help.

Take care of yourself.

Joe
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Friday, July 16th, 2021 AT 10:24 PM
Tiny
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Will do! If I am unable to figure it out, I will let you know, along with if i’m able to get it fixed! I appreciate you taking the time to help!
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Friday, July 16th, 2021 AT 10:45 PM

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